I didn’t feel so royal right now. I was filthy.
Like, I shouldnotbe seen in public this way.
No one should.I was a hazard walking.
I looked at the bag—my bag—that Belshazzar had been carting all over S’Kir in his search for me. I had plenty of clothes in there to change into. I probed, “Does the train have someplace I can clean up?”
Dorian snorted hard, holding his hand in front of his nose. “I pray to gods it does.”
King Belshazzar reached over and smacked his brother upside the head. “She’s been a captive for two fucking weeks. Shut your mouth, asshole.”
“Don’t take your anger out on me. I’m not the one who’s pissed off at you, brother. That would be yoursoul mateyou lied to for a thousand years.” Dorian smirked and lifted his arms to ward off his twin, backing away from us, chuckling as he did so. “I’m going to find Kimber. She’s tended to her horse long enough.”
“Run, bitch.” Bel bared his fangs, violent in the extreme, ready to pummel his twin for bringing up our personal issues. I didn’t blame him one bit. I wouldn't mind smacking Dorian, too, except in his balls.
Dorian turned on his heel to find his mate and walked away with enough swagger to be on a runway.
Roran cleared his throat. “To answer your question, there is a small washroom in the train with a washbasin. That should…help.”
I snorted. “Nothing but a week’s worth of scrubbing is going to help this, but I’ll make do.”
Kimber and Dorian returned quickly, and Dorian held up a small bag wrapped in burlap. He tilted his head to the side—to a lone man standing in the shadows and watching us quietly—and Dorian stated candidly, “Go ahead and board the train. I need to meet with Lord Knight Kane for a moment—pass on the bitch’s head and all. Master Tymon will need the proof while we’re away to handle everyone.”
I studied the burlap. “Queen Niniane’s head’s in there?” I blinked hard. “Her head on the table was real?”
I genuinely thought that had been an illusion.
Dorian’s eyes narrowed on my person. “Yes, it was very real. Howdidyou kill her? How dideveryonedie there?”
So Mr. Delusion was real. Interesting.
Who the fuck was he?
Belshazzar growled softly in his throat. “We agreed we wouldn’t interrogate her.”
“This isn’tinterrogating,and you know it,” Dorian droned. His blue eyes turned to me again, narrowing, but his voice softened. “Do you know what happened there?”
“There was a man.” I puckered my eyebrows, trying to remember all that I could in my hazy memories. “He snuck into my cell. He gave me a little bit of blood. I remember the blood was odd but good. He’s the one who killed everyone. I thought he wasn’t real, though, at the time.”
Dorian lifted his blond eyebrows high on his forehead. “A single man did all that?”
“Maybe?” I shook my head, confused. “I didn’t see anyone else.”
Didn’t he say he was from Ota’ano?
Fuck…I couldn’t remember.
Maybe? I sighed.
“Did he have a name?” Kimber asked kindly.
“Perhaps?” My brows stayed low over my eyes, the name he’d given on the tip of my tongue. I shook my head hard, fighting for the memory. “I called him Mr. Delusion, but he did give me a name. I have no clue why, but I keep thinking about flying monkeys when I try to remember it.”
Every. Single. Person. Stared.
I lifted my chin and peered down my nose, regaining composure in the face of their incredulity. “I was starved of blood for two weeks. I’m doing fairly good, considering.”
“Yes, you are.” Kimber glanced at her men, reining in their disbelieving looks. “If you do remember it, let us know. I’m sure there is a reason for…flying monkeys.”
